63 Genius Ways Creative People Turned Trash Into Something Surprisingly Useful Or Artistic

Also, all the gifts I got were secondhand, free, or made by me. I hate the consumerist stuff that happens during Christmas time and it’s feels really good to go against that. It feels freeing and I’m actually excited to celebrate this year. I’m also going to be making everyone’s Christmas cards with things I already have.

Found this Board at the Thrift Store and it was missing some pieces. I also found a 1’x1’ mirror and had the idea to make this cool mirror.

To help cope with the chronic pain, nerve damage and mental challenges of GBS I began recycling skateboards into abstract sculptures. I hope you like them.

Appreciate any thoughts, I took peoples comments on board after the last lot - this is the latest batch I just finished.

I’m a glassblower and have been recycling my water bottles into cups like this.

Sometimes it's hard to part with T-shirts that my children have outgrown and today I was inspired to make one into a beautiful piece of wall art as a gift. Chronic pain made me not care to do it perfectly, but I'm happy with the results!

Box is holographic so as long as I’m careful about placement you can’t even tell it’s a toothpaste box. I was going to use a circle hole punch to make the confetti but I couldn’t find it. Not that I’m complaining, the butterfly is cute too.

It was actually an old camera carrying case with foam inserts.

I took the last remnants of yarn from other projects and upcycled them into a nice wearable scarf. I made this as a birthday present for myself 2 years ago and it'll probably last me for the rest of my life. Very durable. I get all my yarn secondhand to not contribute to the way it's mass produced. It's very easy to find most yarn secondhand because a lot of it goes unused. Anyway, I Love my scarf, making things out of scrap yarn also creates super unique one of a kind color schemes.

First time making anything like this but I think it came out really well! The puree tube worked really well, not so mutch with the other stuff I tried: a hand cream tube (too slippery, cut my hands A Lot), and some tea light cases (too small, not a great shape). The edges are also pretty sharp so this is not a craft for kids.

I can't afford the big house sets from Lego, so as an alternative I started making some out of recycled boxes. Still a work in progress but here's some pics of what I have so far. Me for size reference.

I know the bags are not practical but I wanted to test my sewing skills and push the message of rethinking packaging waste.

Remote controlled too.

Artist Mirko S.-F. with the pupils of the city school, recycling art for sensitizing our environmental awareness.

"Turtles may seem to lack sense, but they don’t do senseless things. They’re not terribly energetic, yet they do not waste energy… turtles cannot consider what might happen yet nothing turtles do threatens anyone’s future. Turtles don’t think about the next generation, but they risk and provide all they can to ensure that there will be one. Meanwhile, we profess to love our own offspring above all else, yet it is they from whom we daily steal. We cannot learn to be more like turtles, but from turtles we could learn to be more human. That is the wisdom carried within one hundred million years of survival. What turtles could learn from us, I can’t quite imagine." Carl Safina. From a gallery in Bandon Oregon, run by a wonderful non-profit that turns plastic beach trashs into amazing art. Every piece of this sculpture is trash! They also have traveling exhibits, currently at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington DC, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, and the Naples zoo in Florida.

Just a bunch of odds and ends of my kids toys arranged onto thrifted frames. Covered in epoxy resin.

It’s virtually impossible to find a nice 2” pair or larger without having to custom order so I decided to make my own out of epoxy resin and an old seahorses pair that I really like. It took about 3 days for them to cure and I couldn’t be happier, I made a few others that I’m not as proud of so they aren’t worth sharing. To make these were 3x cheaper than buying a new pair of a custom made pair. I’m super happy with myself and I’d highly recommend trying it out if you’re into arts and crafts.

My ex destroyed my good luck babe vinyl and then left it on my porch with some other ruined things… I asked if I should turn the vinyl into art- and with your recommendations I was able to make one of the most cathartic pieces of art I’ve ever made. He snapped the vinyl in half, so I kept one side intact, and tore the other side up. I made the collage from a Chappell Fanzine and was sure to add the “You are only capable of loving yourself” note he wrote on the sleeve and the very real sign off on a note he included “smell ya later” to the canvas. With your recommendation I was sure to cross out the “only” on the sleeve. (His favorite thing about me was my empathy lmao). For now, it’s going deep into the closet. I figure I’ll display it in a few years when I can laugh that I was in a 4 year relationship with a man who had “funky town” tattooed on his stomach. Please don’t date men. They’re literally the worst. Thank you to all the support you gave me in the first post. I had even had someone reach out and mail me an extra copy of the vinyl they had. I love yall. In Chappell we trust.

I had some broken pendants, singular earrings, crystals, and random dollhouse figurines. There’s even a euro 10 cents! I am a collector of little things I find and they finally have a purpose.

Over 16 million crisp packets are thrown away each day in the UK alone. The estimated time for them to degrade is thought to be over 80 years.

…but sometimes you’re better off just throwing it away, lots of mistakes made but I love to experiment - Lost nothing - All free, recycled materials, left over paints etc. Ps. I accidentally broke my cranes neck, it’s in a temporary cast atm but expected to make a full recovery.

Here is my hand made figurine of him that I created from recycled materials. That's how I perceive him! Please give it love even if it's not digital art.

I’m not even sure whether to flair this under. My husband saw it first y’all. The top is sooooooo Elise coded. Is this not something she would wear? 90day is our guilty pleasure. I gotta have my 90 day like clockwork— WEEKLY. my husband knew of it before we got married, but after we sealed the deal I had him watching it faithfully, every episode, now he’s hooooooooked. Sundays and Mondays are just for us. We even do the Facebook hack to watch them since HBO doesn’t get the episodes until next day (yeah we… we can’t wait). This season of BT90D is GOLDEN, I’m talking it’s giving OG 90 day vibes. I know it’s mostly scripted, but at least the producers are finally *listening* when it comes to new cast members, and it looks like the upcoming season is about to be even better than this one. Anyways, enjoy our Elise. I *do* wonder what my daughter’s teacher is gonna think when we turn it in. Edit: My husband wanted me to tell you guys this: originally, he only did the top covers (in proper Elise fashion) when he brought up it looks like.. well.. Elise. It was only then I said well.. this is for an elementary school project so.. shouldn’t we give her more of a.. shirt? So that’s how she ended up with the extra strap. Would have been way more accurate without the blue strap over the stomach.

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Dewman! I don't really want to get rid of him but for the right price I can sell him and make more art out of 2 liter bottles therefore recycling more bottles and keeping them out of the ocean.